Sadly, my group was formed a little too late to truly capitalize on the new A Cappella show on NBC coming up this fall, but I am still eagerly anticipating the AcaGoodness that might come from this show. Wistfully re-reading the audition ad over on "A Cappella News" I came across the line that says in the press release (emphasis mine):

"They will compete weekly in front of the show’s panel of professional experts".

Since Deke, et al. have been mum about their role in this upcoming series, I wanted to sort of out them right now and say how truly excited I am to have such distinguished judges and give the proper kudos to the production company for knowing where to go looking for such people! I mean, there's no way that CASA isn't somehow directly involved in this Panel, is there? Is there? Professional Experts, right?

Comments

Professional.....

If I got to choose, my judging panel would include Deke Sharon and Bill Hare, and maybe someone like Scott Leonard. And I would put someone on sound who KNOWS a cappella sound (both on the house and on the broadcast sound mixes)--someone like Tony Huerta (runs live sound for Take 6) or Shannon (I never got his last name, but he did sound for Toxic Audio in Vegas). But my panel will never happen: three white men non acapellaheads have never heard of? Won't sell enough product.

So since I don't get to choose, I was wondering about those "Professional Judges"--mentally going down the lists of Hollywoodites who need work/exposure right now and wondering if they'll have the sense to get someone who knows something about music, or just someone who sings.

Boyz2Men? Mandy Moore? One of the non-Justin former members of NSync or Backstreet Boys? Oh--I bet they get the resurrected New Kids on the Block.

Since we all know the question is who is going to draw the most viewers that buy the advertiser's products without costing the network too much, I'm not putting much stock in their acaknowledge either. I wouldn't be surprised if they put in some actors--or even athletes.

One judge named....

NBC is casting a wide net for a cappella groups to hum and howl on the network’s new reality show “The Sing-Off.’’ Based on an idea shopped around by Newton director Sam Weisman, the show won’t air until December, but the auditions are taking place this month. (There’s no New England date, but wannabes can audition Sept. 12 in New York, Sept. 14 in Chicago, Sept. 16 in Atlanta, or Sept. 19 in LA.) Weisman, who’s executive producing the show along with Joel Gallen of MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew’’ fame, and Deb Newmyer, said more than 200 groups have already signed up, and they run the gamut from buskers to full-blown professionals. “There are some extraordinarily talented people,’’ he said. So far, only one judge has been lined up, and that’s Ben Folds.

I know about the Ben Folds<->A cappella connection...since he's apparently a fan, it's a good thing?

I'm cautiously optimistic.

Thanks for the update

I am too lazy to dig this kind of stuff up, I guess. So thanks for keeping me updated!

'Cautiously optimistic' about Ben Folds--me, too. He does like a cappella, but, judging from what he picked for his a cappella album, he either a)favors the raw, un-reinforced sound of most college groups or b)is unaware that groups like Duwende and Mosiac, with their beefy, complex, rich, nicely-mixed, reinforced sounds exist. So either he gets a pleasant surprise, or we now know what kinds of groups are going to win by his judgment--not my personal favorite branch of a cappella.

Of course, he is a respectable musician who is a great songwriter and totally interested in new and cool sounds, so that gives me a great deal of hope. And he's no 'soup Nazi' or acapelitist, and that's good in my book.

my vote: Good Choice for a judge.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

What You Can Do...

Click on the wrench in the upper left-hand corner to see what else you can do.

Want to Start a Group?

There’s no need to learn the hard way! From conceptualization through your first performance, we can tell you the best way to find members, run auditions, structure your group, build a quick repertoire, and start performing.